Bronco Mendenhall Faces Unique Challenges As BYU Coach

Bronco Mendenhall

George Frey / Getty Images

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall of the Brigham Young Cougars coaches in his first game for BYU, against the Boston College Eagles on September 3, 2005 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. Boston College defeated BYU 20-3.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall of the Brigham Young Cougars coaches in his first game for BYU, against the Boston College Eagles on September 3, 2005 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. Boston College defeated BYU 20-3. (George Frey / Getty Images)

PAUL DOYLE, pdoyle@courant.com

Bronco Mendenhall is bringing his football team 2,300 miles to play its opening game Friday night at Rentschler Field.

The journey from Provo, Utah, to East Hartford is simply part of life for a college football independent. The powers at Brigham Young University decided to break their football program away from a conference affiliation three years ago and the aim remains the same.

"Increased exposure," Mendenhall said this week.

That means piecing together a schedule that includes American Athletic Conference opponents such as UConn one week and traveling to the college football mecca of Austin, Texas, to face the Longhorns the next week. It means playing the likes of Middle Tennessee and Savannah State while scheduling power conference foes such as Virginia and California.

The plan is to bring the program all over the country and take on all opponents. In three seasons as an independent, the Cougars are 26-13, and Mendenhall is bullish on his program's place among the nation's best.

"We're anxious to go anywhere we can, play the best opponents in front of the most people, in the most unique venues to help our program," Mendenhall said. "That's part of independence and we embrace that part."

The team visiting Rentschler Field on Friday night is not nationally ranked, although BYU did receive votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today preseason polls and is a 16.5-point favorite against the Huskies. The Cougars have a high-powered offense led by quarterback Taysom Hill, who is being touted by some analysts as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

It's a program that has produced a Heisman winner (Ty Detmer, 1990) and a Hall of Fame quarterback (Steve Young). It's a program that was a national champion in 1984 and has finished its season as a top 25 team 18 times in its history.

Yet finding opponents willing to travel to Provo is a challenge. And finding elite programs willing to schedule nonconference games against an established, strong team isn't easy.

Mendenhall, in his 10th season, likes the idea of playing games in untapped markets such as Connecticut.

"We also wanted to connect regionally in every region of the country every year," Mendenhall said. "Not only for exposure, but also for connection with our fan base and members of the church that this institution is supported by. We'll be the third most-traveled team this year, other than Hawaii and Idaho."

The school is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which estimates that about 15,000 members live in Connecticut. But there also are members all over New England and into New York who might relish the opportunity to see BYU, which made a Northeast game a priority.

Mendenhall said he first hoped to schedule a game at Syracuse. When a game couldn't be worked out, UConn became an option.

This is BYU's only trip to the Northeast for the foreseeable future. The Cougars — whose future schedules include Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Stanford — will play West Virginia in Landover, Md., in 2016.

This year, BYU will also play Houston from the AAC. It also has East Carolina on its future schedule.

"We have a very difficult time, especially mid-to-late season, of anyone wanting to come to Provo to play," Mendenhall said. "With conference affiliations, we don't have trouble in early season. Our schedules are very front-end loaded, especially in terms of strength of schedule. We're looking for the best people we can play from beginning of the season to the end, and the American Conference has been willing to play. I think they have quality teams and a quality league and so it's beginning to be a nice fit for us."

For UConn, this is not an easy opponent to kick off the season. Coach Bob Diaco praised the BYU program, which has historically included older, more mature players who have returned from missionary work.

This year, BYU starts the season without leading rusher Jamaal Williams (1,233 yards) and receiver Devon Blackmon, who were suspended for violating team rules. It has been reported that they violated the school's honor code — Williams was arrested for suspicion of underage drinking, and Blackmon's alleged offense was wearing an earring.

The school's standards are indeed high, and Mendenhall admitted this week that committing to a set list of traveling players isn't easy. Things can change quickly.

"At BYU, it's such a unique institution," Mendenhall said. "We have very unique standards here that are extremely high. So I've learned over time to never say never. I hope everyone else will be in good standing and be able to make it, but, again, until we actually show up and play, there's always some room for someone's choice here or there that ends up costing them a game or two."

One player who will undoubtedly be on the plane Wednesday is Hill, who could be the most dynamic player that Rentschler fans will see this season. Last season he passed for 2,938 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for 1,344 yards.

His 4,282 total yards is fifth most in school history behind Young, Jim McMahon and Detmer (twice).

He also threw 14 interceptions and completed just 53.9 percent of his passes. Vowing to improve his passing, he participated in the Manning Passing Academy in the summer.

"He'll bring speed, he'll bring size, he brings athleticism, he brings leadership, and he brings productivity," Mendenhall said. "I think you'll like what you see when you have a chance to watch him play."